Dear Lifehacker,
I've heard people murmur about "private" BitTorrent trackers and how they're so much better than sites like The Pirate Bay, but I don't really know what a private tracker is. Does it just increase my privacy? I have a Demonoid account, but I never use it. Should I be?

Sincerely,
Secret Sharing

Dear Secret,
You're somewhat on the right track. You do get a bit of increased privacy from a private tracker, but the greater benefits include larger selections of files, faster downloads, higher quality files, and strong communities behind them. They're called "private" because they regulate who is allowed to use the site—it's an exclusive community. They have a lot of benefits, but they also come with a lot of rules, regulations, and difficulties. So before I continue, I want to make clear that private trackers are definitely not for everyone. You need to have a pretty strong dedication to most of these communities, and they often have strict rules about what you can and cannot do once you get invited (which is a whole process in and of itself). Most of you might be better off with something like Usenet to share and download files, because it doesn't require nearly as much work on your part. Here's what it means to be a private BitTorrent tracker, and what you'd get from being a part of one.

Usenet is a wonderful service for finding and downloading digital media, giving you speed and…
Read more Read more

What Does It Mean to Be "Private"?

A BitTorrent tracker, for those of you that don't remember, is a server that regulates the communication between those downloading and uploading torrents. The defining factor of private BitTorrent trackers is that they're selective about who gets to use the site. Unlike The Pirate Bay or isoHunt, on which anyone can search and download torrents, private trackers require you be invited by another user and create an account in order to use the service. If you don't know someone with an account, then you need to go through a somewhat intense interview process to get an invite (trading or selling invites online is strictly prohibited in most cases). In addition, they often have many rules about how you can use the site. These can include but are not limited to:

Rules regarding ratio: You need to have a certain upload to download ratio, meaning you can't just download torrents and delete them—you need to seed them so others can download them too. Some sites will ban you if you have a low ratio, some just restrict what you can do on the site, like upload torrents, make torrent requests, or invite other users.

Rules regarding invites: Users you invite reflect on you, and if they harm the community, it can harm your stance in the community as well (in some cases, you could be banned).

Rules regarding uploads: If you upload files to the site, they need to be of a certain quality, format, and/or use a certain organizational structure. Where most BitTorrent sites seem like a hodgepodge of unorganized files, private trackers are usually much more organized and quality-conscious.

These rules will vary from site to site, but that's a general idea of what you can expect. There are a lot of great private trackers out there, most of whom have specific niches—for example, What.CD focuses on music, BroadcastTheNet stocks lots of television and PassThePopcorn has a strong movie library. If you're interested in signing up for one, I recommend searching around for a private tracker that fits your needs, then researching that sites rules, regulations, and invitation practices before joining. If you can't keep up with the rules, there's no point in even trying to get an invite, because these guys tend to be pretty serious.

I should note here that Demonoid is, for all intents and purposes, not a private tracker. They hold open signups far too often and have little to no rules regulating the community. It's so easy to get an invite or sign up that it can barely be considered private, so while it's a fine place to find torrents, don't assume you're getting any anonymity just by downloading from there. Their selection isn't much better than public sites, either, though the community is a bit better than sites like The Pirate Bay in terms of keeping things seeded (even though there's no required ratio).

What Do I Get Out of It?

That sounds like an awful lot of work just to use BitTorrent, doesn't it? Well, you get what you pay for, in this case. Because of these rules, you get a lot of benefits, including (but again, not limited to):

A fantastic selection of torrents: Most of these sites pride themselves on a wide selection of whatever type of file they focus on. In fact, in many cases, it's hard to find something they don't have.

High quality files: Most sites have very high quality standards, and if an uploaded torrent doesn't meet them, it's deleted. If you're looking for lossless music, for example, a private tracker is a great place to find them.

Crazy-fast downloads: Because the community is so great about seeding, and because lots of them have fast internet connections, you'll get pretty insane speeds on private trackers compared to public ones.

Some increased privacy: Because the rules are so strict and the sites are so much less traveled than sites like The Pirate Bay, you're a lot less likely to have someone looking over your shoulder at everything you download. However, I wouldn't recommend a private tracker just for anonymity—if you really want to keep your downloading private, I still highly recommend a VPN or proxy service like BTGuard.

A great community: The people on private trackers are very helpful in answering questions, keeping things seeded, and even uploading torrents that you request.

Should I Use One?

At this point, only you can really answer that question. Check out some tracker reviews over at Torrent Invites, and if you find a few that appeal to you, research their invite process and site rules and see if they're things you can handle (Remember that asking for invites there is against the rules, though). Do you know enough about BitTorrent to understand how the site is maintained? Are you able to seed your torrents often (that is, do you leave your computer on all day or have an always-on NAS to seed for you)? If the site's rules or interview process don't look like something you can handle, then I don't particularly recommend joining. Again, Usenet will get you pretty far when it comes to most things—but if you're serious about following the rules and want a great selection of quality torrents, private trackers can be pretty awesome.

At its most basic, Network attached storage, or NAS, is a great way to share files on your local…
Read more Read more

Love,
Lifehacker

P.S. If you have any experience with private trackers—good or bad—tell us about them in the comments. There are a lot of different trackers out there, with different niches, rules, and benefits. The above is just a general summary.

Also, please don't ask for or share invites in the comments of this post. Not only is this prohibited at most private trackers, but it also spams up our comments and takes away from the conversation.